cmsix John and Argent by cmsix Chapter 41 It was easy to tell when I was very near the cause of the commotion. The crowd was thick and getting thicker. I pushed my way through and the first thing I saw was a bleeding body. It was sprawled out mostly on its back, legs still jerking and blood pouring from a hole in the center of its chest. The familiar pink froth was also being whipped up around the sucking chest wound. It didn't look like it was going to get much more agitation though. Dalia, Delia and Daria were all crowded around Danlo talking at the same time and trying to see where he'd been wounded. I was able to get them to calm down and let me look and when I did I saw that Danlo wasn't wounded at all. His tunic had a big gash in it over his abdomen but that was the extent of his injuries. On the ground near his feet was an antler handled flint knife with a broken blade. "What happened Danlo?" I asked. "We were going to Daria's hut when whoever that was came at me yelling that he would have Daria for his mate and that he was going to kill me. He was on me more quickly than I'd have thought he could be but I managed to get my Glock out and kill him. It looks like I might have pulled the shot a little high though." Danlo explained. "Well that area can be a little messy but it was a fatal placement." I said. "What is that thing in your hand Danlo and why didn't the knife hurt you?" Daria asked, clearly very anxious. "I will tell you everything later. We have some secrets to keep now though." He told her as he looked directly into her eyes. She pulled herself together then and didn't ask any other questions. Jato had arrived by that time and was looking at the dead man, actually the body seemed barely past puberty to me. "What has happened?" Jato asked. "Apparently that one was tired of living, he attacked Danlo intending to kill him for Daria." I said. "The fool had a mate of his own he was barely able to feed. I guess he won't have to worry about it anymore." Jato said, writing the corpse off rather coldly in my opinion. "Where is his mate then, I should see about her." Danlo said. "I am Jatalieta, I was his mate." Said a young girl who was trying to push her way through the last of the crowd. "I'm sorry if I have caused you grief Jatalieta but he gave me no choice in the matter." Danlo told her as she came into the open. "Darkato always had big thoughts, he said he would be leader some day; I always knew that he never would be but I never argued with him. Now all his dreams are running out of him with his blood. I will pack quickly and my load will be light but we will still be caught by the night unless your camp is very close." Jatalieta said. "There are many of us here and if we travel at night we will still be safe. Your load will be lighter than you think since you will not have to carry it except to the wagon. John will you stay with Dalia, Delia and Daria while I go with Jatalieta?" Danlo asked me. "I will be happy to Danlo, I need to speak to Daria for a few minutes anyway." I said since I saw Mundo approaching. Dieta was right behind him and I asked her to go with Danlo and Jatalieta. She agreed and then Daria, Dalia, Delia, Mundo and I went into Daria's hut. "Mundo has told me that there are four men who want to bring their mates from this camp and join ours. Can you tell me about them Daria?" I asked her. "Who are they?" She asked. "It is Buloto, Saraato, Karcoto and Deberto." Mundo told us. "I know them all. They are good men and cause no trouble unless you ask them to go and spy on others. They flatly refused to have any part of that foolishness but they had sense enough to tell Cardiato in private. He solved the problem by never asking them to do it. "Buloto is a very good hunter, especially with the spearcaster. Saraato and Karcoto are good too and Karcoto is one of the best at making the smaller spears and the spearcasters. Deberto is the best flint knapper here or probably anywhere." Daria told us. "Tell them they may come then Mundo." I said and he left to do it. Raalto poked his head in the hut then to ask if everything was all right. I told him about Danlo's excitement and he just shook his head. "At least I can help with the carrying since I am here." He said. Surprisingly we had everything loaded and were able to leave within an hour. Jato didn't bother to see us off and I guess that was understandable since he had bodies to bury and a leadership position to try for. It suited me fine; I had seen all of this camp that I wanted to by now. Jatalieta was amazed by the wagon and giant horses and I think Daria and all the other newcomers were too. Jatalieta wasn't too bashful to show it though and from Red's back I saw that she and Daria asked a lot of questions of my mates during the trip. It was an hour after sunset before we made it back to camp. It was all ashore that are going ashore at my cave's entrance. Georgo, Ladeliea, Yotalieta, Baahaya, Dotallto, Julieta, Shallea and Shaala came rushing out to greet us. When Shallea and Shaala discovered that Danlo had two new mates I thought that they would wet their new chain mail, they squealed like little kids and nearly hugged Daria and especially Jatalieta to death. My mates were quick to catch the excitement and the ever ready Dieta sidled up to me. "I am already panting for Danlo to go on an overnight trip." She whispered in my ear. "Me too." We all made our way inside but the enthusiasm didn't die down, in fact I think it was still building. Everyone wanted to hear the story but I was hoping that someone would break down and cook something. I was heartened when Dalia and Delia drifted toward the kitchen, they had heard the tale more than once by now. I did get a minor dressing down later from Shallea and Shaala for not letting them go along and I had to promise to include them on the next trip. When Jatalieta saw what Dalia and Delia were up to in the kitchen she noticed it for the first time. When she headed that way Daria saw her and glanced toward her destination. Of course this let her in on the secret too and she moved toward Dalia and Delia in an almost spellbound state. With the two stars of the evening moving toward the cooking area all the others except Georgo, Dotallto and Danlo followed. I went over and sat at the table and the three joined me just as Raalto, Racaato and all the other men from this side came in. They had their mates with them of course but they all headed for the hen party. At least Jaada took time to bring us some coffee. "What a day." Raalto said. "It was, wasn't it? I think that we were lucky to get out of there with only two new mates for Danlo. I don't know what you thought but to me it seemed that there were several of the men who were very displeased with the way things went." Racaato said. "I think that you're correct. I saw quite a few that seemed to be in a bad mood about the whole thing." I said. "Who can blame them? I'll bet that the second one that Danlo had to kill wasn't the only one that had something like that on his mind." Barago said. "I also think that is the case. From the wagon I could see many of them and there were several small groups that were talking and arguing among each other." Bigglieo told us. "I'm sure that they will need to be considered for a long while now and I'm not sure that I believe what Jato told me about leaving us alone. Even if he means it we don't know if he will actually become their leader. I think that we should continue to keep ourselves ready for a while at least." I said. There was general agreement that we should keep our eyes peeled for intruders. I also needed to talk to the four men that joined us from that camp. They might be able to shed a little more light on the situation. I gave up thinking about the camp when the food arrived and we ate mostly in silence. Everyone made a fairly hasty departure after the meal thankfully. It was my second mating night with Kateata after all. I woke up against Kateata and looking behind me I saw Jaada's lovely form. She was awake and gave me a kiss on the cheek and then climbed out of bed. The wiggling woke Kateata and after another kiss we both crawled to the edge of the bed and out. I smelled breakfast but headed for a quick shower anyway. I was back to the table and fed before any of the others made it in so I took a mug of coffee and headed outside. I could get used to walking around in the mornings before the others were out. It was peaceful and calming to me. I headed toward the horse pens to look around. The wild stallion was still cooped up in the training pen and it was about time we taught him his main job. I doubted that I would be riding him much but someone would be needing to before too long. When I walked into the horse cave I was surprised at the amount of hay that was stacked against the back wall. Raalto hadn't mentioned anything about it gaining on them so I guessed that Argent and company were paying attention to how they were padding the tab. If we had three more weeks of working weather there would be more than enough hay. Hell Argent was going to have to slow down or he'd fill the cave completely. Even more impressive to me was the pile of dried buffalo shit. There must have been tons of it already and I knew that Barago had no intention of slowing down. I would have to ask Argent if he was helping out there too. The situation with the other camp was begining to piss me off. I was getting anxious to make my side trip and it would be risky to do it if they intended to keep fucking with us. Of course they hadn't had time to try anything else but I'd had the same feeling as the others. They didn't seem like they realized that they had no chance to defeat us. They obviously knew that we had something that could kill them and that they couldn't understand. The kicker was that they probably didn't have any idea how many people we had up here. All they had ever seen was our leaders and my mates mostly. If they knew that there were more than twice as many of us as them maybe they would see the light. I wasn't going to tell them though; if they wanted to know they could just come for a visit. I had invited them hadn't I? Maybe they would do it. I went back to my cave then and when I arrived most of the others were nearly through eating. I sat down to talk with them for a few minutes. Raalto and Barago were intent on getting back to their projects and Daaggo was too. Racaato was unsure about what he should do today so I asked him to get Daria and Jatalieta started with the weapons. I told him to be ready to take a little ride with me tomorrow for some exploring and I asked Raalto if he had another man that could take over his duties for a day. He said that he did. I left with the wranglers when everyone headed for their chores. We went to the pens and I decided that today was the day Jack, the wild stallion, would be ridden. I told Danlo, Nadlo and Jonoco also that I would need them plus Sahto and Talvo tomorrow for the trip. Jack had been mounted by the time we broke for lunch. He hadn't liked it much but he didn't give me much trouble either. After eating lunch we went back to him and kept at it until time for supper. I noticed that everyone cleared out pretty quickly after supper tonight too. We had a little talking to do with Daria and Jatalieta though and so I had Delia go and ask them to come back. They weren't going to get their dresses yet but they were going to get their chain mail. While Delia was gone I told my other mates what I wanted to see the two newbies about and most of them giggled. "I think that you just want to watch them change." Delia said. "Well that too but they do need the mail." My mates all took off their dresses and were wearing only their chain mail when Delia returned with Danlo's new mates. They were surprised but curious. I explained to them what it was for and handed them their versions. They didn't think a thing about stripping off and trying them on at once. I didn't mind a bit. They were both good looking; Daria resembled Dalia and Delia in more than just facial features. Her big titties were as impressive as theirs and her ass looked equally delicious. Jatalieta was slimmer but her breasts were respectably plump too and her round little ass was a treat. I also noticed that her bush was very sparse and I thought that I could almost see her clit trying to peek out of the top of her slit. I was inspired and when they had their new protection on I went over to inspect it closely. Of course I had to feel around on them to make sure that it fit properly. All too soon I had to give up the farce and let them put their clothes back on and return to Danlo. "Don't worry John, we've already told them when they would get their new clothes and they are both looking forward to it." Amelia told me after they were gone. She also reached down to give dicky a squeeze. When she discovered the shape he was in she led me toward the bed using him for a handle. She had help peeling me and then I was forced into the big bed to do my duty, to all my mates. Kateata and Ameliea were keeping me warm when I woke the next morning. They were both awake already and after giving me a good morning kiss they were gone, leaving me to fend for myself. I guessed that I could manage. I showered and dressed and made a beeline for coffee. I was surprised that Daria brought it to me this morning and I noticed that all Danlo's mates were in here even though he hadn't made it yet. "Where is Danlo?" I asked Daria as she set my coffee down. "We are going to let him sleep a little longer since he had to work so hard last night." She said giggling at the last. She didn't seem to be in a rush to leave so I took this opportunity to run a hand up the back of her leg and onto her ass, copping a feel of the beauty was just the thing to get my blood flowing early in the morning, too bad it couldn't make it flow in a more productive direction. Daria leaned down, put her arms around my neck and gave me a toe curling kiss while I played with her ass; she turned toward me slightly and I was able to get both hands into the act for a while. I was ready to send Danlo somewhere, anywhere, at that moment but when we broke the kiss I released her and settled down. I didn't get a lot of time to simmer before Jatalieta was there with my breakfast and another body to explore. When she set my plate down she shifted directly into her kiss and this time I took my chance to slide my hands up under her tunic and explore her titties. They were delightful and dicky was pounding when she went back to the kitchen. I did manage to eat before my breakfast got cold though. Georgo and his tribe came in a few minutes later and he sat near me. "Dotallto is anxious to resume his visiting tomorrow John, are you planning on showing him the secrets of the rifle and the Glock?" He asked me. "I don't think I will just yet. I might have been a little premature in asking him to stay with us and while I don't think that he will cause any trouble on purpose I don't know him well enough to share such things with him yet." "I think you are wise to withhold the secret for now. Especially since there isn't time to train him properly and it would be a disaster for one from Jato's camp to see him wearing the Glock and take it from him." Georgo said. "I hadn't really even thought of that and I'm sure that you are right. I must be careful to make sure that no one loses a weapon to any of the other camps or anyone that doesn't live here." "If they did obtain one they would still not know how to use it properly." Georgo said. "I know but it would be a danger. In the first place they might injure someone while trying to learn how it worked and that is only the best that we could hope for. They would probably not gain much by just getting one since they would soon be out of ammunition but they would be dangerous as long as they had some. I think we will be better off keeping the secret from him." Georgo's food came then and soon others, including a remarkably spry Danlo, came in to eat. I got another plate soon but Jaada brought it this time. She let me know that her ass wanted a little exploration too while she was near me by rubbing it against my shoulder. I always had time to grope a woman who needed it so I did. After breakfast most of the men took off for their chores. Raalto and Racaato wanted to know where we were going this morning and so did Danlo, Jonoco and Nadlo. "I thought we would take a little trip down river to the big side stream. There is a good hardwood forest along its banks and I want to explore it a little. I thought it would be better to take the big wagon along so we could have something to tie the horses to while we went into the trees on foot. It will also give a place for those watching the horses to sit while we are hunting." "Do you think there will be game easily found there?" Racaato asked. "I'm sure that there are some boars and sows and probably some tender young ones. There are probably some of the smaller deer there too. Finding out exactly what is there is the main reason I want to go though." We all went to get our rifles and then down to the horse pens. The wranglers, including Sahto and Talvo who were going also, hitched the team while Raalto, Racaato, Danlo and I saddled horses. At the last minute I decided to ask Nadlo to stay in camp with Bonehead saddled in case we were needed back in a hurry. I told him where we were going and then we left. When we got to the side stream it only took about twenty minutes to find a place to cross the river with the wagon. No doubt that it would be a lot bigger job during a wetter part of the year though. We parked the wagon and after dismounting we tied all the horses to it. Jonoco, Sahto and Talvo would be staying with it while the rest of us went exploring. Raalto and Racaato entered the woods near the river while Danlo and I walked up the side stream a few hundred yards before entering. Of course it was old growth since there had been no such thing as harvesting timber in that time. The brush was almost non-existent after we'd moved a hundred yards from the river. The canopy made sure of that. There were deadfalls a plenty though and the going wasn't as easy as it could have been. Danlo told me that he knew almost nothing about hunting as we were entering the woods. I told him we weren't hunting primarily and that all he needed to do was move as quietly as possible and keep his eyes open for anything that was moving. I should have prepared him more thoroughly for what might happen. We had only been in the woods for about thirty minutes before I spotted two sows rooting around under some oaks. There were about twelve piglets with them also. The piglets weren't big enough to bother with for cooking but one of the little bastards did sound the alert by squealing, like a pig of course. When the sows looked up and noticed us they were not impressed and not afraid either. They probably weighed seven to eight hundred pounds each and their first reaction was to make angry grunting noises. "Try to shoot one in its chest Danlo, between the front legs and about halfway from where its legs join and the top of its back. That should be close enough to its heart to kill it. If it keeps moving anyway, keep shooting. They are sometimes hard to kill. If we don't stop it try to get up a tree if you can, their teeth are sharper than you think." We didn't have any more time to talk. I was a little surprised that the sows headed toward us as if to run us off. It was time to shoot or run. Danlo fired first and did a good job. The sow dropped within steps. My first shot didn't seem to bother the other one and my second didn't either. I was begining to think I should be looking for a tree I could climb but my third shot must have hit something important because she paused and then dropped. "I thought we might need to climb a tree as you said John." Danlo said after it was over. "I was begining to think so myself." "What about the little ones, aren't they too small to kill and clean?" He asked. "I think so but if we could get the tender trap we might catch them." "Why would we do that?" He wanted to know. "We can build a pen to hold them and then feed them until they are big enough to eat. It is not nearly as dangerous as hunting them." "But what would we feed them?" He asked. "Anything. They will eat almost anything. They will even eat the horse dung if it is fresh, just to digest what the horses couldn't." "Would we want to eat them if they had been feeding on horse dung?" He asked slightly disgusted. "Do you know what they have been eating when you eat meat from a wild one?" "I see. Should I go back and get the cage?" He asked. "Let's just back off for a few minutes and see what happens. If we do the young ones will probably gather around their mothers, even though they are dead." We did just that and within thirty minutes the piglets were up near their mothers, some of them were even nursing. A few minutes later Racaato joined us having made his way toward the gunshots through the woods. I sent Danlo back for the cage then and told him to bring Sahto and Talvo back with him when he brought it. Then I explained to Racaato what I had on my mind and when Raalto showed up later I told him too. Raalto stayed with me while Racaato continued exploring. Danlo was back with the cage, Sahto and Talvo about two hours later. "How will we get them in the cage?" Danlo asked after they had set it down. "That will be the job of Sahto and Talvo. You can try too if you want but it is not a very dignified process." "What do you mean?" He asked. "I mean that the only way I know to get them in the cage is to chase and catch them. I doubt that they will stray far from their mother's bodies for a while but they are not going to enter the cage of their own free will." He decided to give it a try and then the chase was on. It was hilarious. The little piglets weren't big enough to outrun the boys but they could dart away at an angle so fast that the boys fell on their asses often. Soon enough the piglets were too tired to maneuver as quickly and the wranglers started making headway. I had been right about the pigs not leaving their mothers bodies too and with a lot of running and diving catches Danlo, Sahto and Talvo were able to get all thirteen of the young ones in the cage. Not without a hell of a lot of squealing though. Danlo, Sahto and Talvo were covered in dirt and detritus from the forest floor after it was over. They spent about ten minutes brushing each other off and trying to catch their breath. The only sign we'd had from Racaato during the whole show had been one shot, pretty far off at that. He came up dragging a big doe he'd killed and gutted just as we put the last piglet in the cage. "How are we going to get this all back to the wagon?" Sahto asked looking around. "We brought a travois in the back of the wagon, go get Jezebel and put it on her then bring her back up the side stream; we'll carry it out of the woods and meet you." I told him. He left and we carried the cage and the doe to the stream's bank leaving Raalto to watch over the sows and keep scavengers away. Danlo stayed to watch at the stream while we went back for the sows. Those bitches were heavy. It was all Racaato and I could do to drag one at a time toward the stream. I was glad for the winch in the wagon when it came time to load them. Our little trip had turned into a bonus. I had found plenty of mature timber for whenever I found time to get the sawmill figured out and none of us had seen any sign of men's presence there. It relieved my mind a little. We also had some fresh pork and things like that were always a hit with me. I had also discovered a wealth of firewood. We wouldn't need to cut down live trees to burn though. Plenty of the deadfalls were still relatively sound and it wouldn't take much work to cut them off from their stumps, trim most of the big limbs and have the draft horses drag them into the stream or the river and pull them up to our camp. Both the stream and the river were remarkably shallow this time of the year at least. Still I didn't think that we would encounter any place where they were less than eighteen inches deep. That would be enough water to float most of the deadfalls. It would be time consuming but it wouldn't be a big strain on anything. The hardest part would be cutting them up and of course skidding them out of the forest. I would have to get some brush hooks and machetes from Argent to clear a few paths through the perimeter brush and I would need some crosscut saws and larger bow saws for the cutting up and the trimming. It would also give many of the men something to do splitting it up into firewood; that meant I'd need some heavier axes, a few mauls and some wedges too. All in all it would smell a lot better than the bison shit fuel. Almost everyone that watched the squealing piglets being unloaded wondered what in the hell I wanted them for. I could tell that even though they were now perfectly comfortable with the horses they didn't have a real clue about the possibilities of domesticating animals. Daaggo seemed to catch on quickest and when I was explaining about building a pen for the little oinkers he volunteered saying that he thought that we should make a small one inside the horse cave first since they were still so little. Daaggo intended to call a halt to closing up the caves for a few hours to take care of it. We decided that they should probably stay in the horse cave for most of the winter and then next spring we could build a hog pen in the corner of the large horse capture pen but on the side away from the training pens. We found an out of the way place in the horse cave and Daaggo went to get his helpers. It was well past noon by the time I got back to my cave and I was ready for a little lunch. My mates were ready for me too but they had questions about the piglets. I had to go over it more carefully this time than I had outside among all the others. "But how did you know to do it John?" Ameliea asked when I'd finished. "I have seen it done where I came from." "And where did you come from by the way?" She asked. "Very far from here, very far." Chapter 42 Back to story Index Back to cmsix Index Blog eMail cmsix I claim copyright on everything from here on in, inclusive - cmsix